All posts tagged navistar

After skidding the past couple of years, the commercial truck market in China is about to take off again, fueled by an increasing demand for higher-quality vehicles.

But U.S.-based truck makers Navistar International Corp. and Paccar Inc. could be left waiting at the loading dock after European rivals, like Volvo AB and Daimler AG, positioned themselves in recent years to benefit from the upturn by partnering with China’s largest domestic truck makers, says market consultant AlixPartners in its global truck market forecast.

To take advantage of sales growth that the firm expects will average 9% a year for heavy-duty trucks and 4% for medium-duty trucks, western truck makers need manufacturing capacity in China and the know-how to develop and sell vehicles to Chinese truckers, whose performance requirements for their trucks are evolving. The easiest route for foreign truck makers is through joint ventures with domestic truck companies.

When companies expand, one thing they tend to do is create demand for more trucks to move all that extra stuff around. Truck sales, as we mentioned here last week, are a useful indicator of economic activity, and the sluggish U.S. economy still isn’t buying as many new trucks as it was before the recession.

So on that front, some moderately positive news about U.S. economic activity from truck maker Navistar today: In an SEC filing related to a $200 million debt offering, the company said it ”secured nearly 5,900 Class 6-8 truck orders, making it the Company’s highest order receipt month since December 2011.”